


The Gift

by Short_honey_badger



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, Halo Reach - Fandom
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Canon-Typical Violence, Courting Rituals, Cultural Differences, F/M, Fluff, I mess with the time line a little bit, Jealousy, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Sorry Not Sorry, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Unrequited Crush, Vague Soulmate AU, by eye color, possible triggers, space friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:48:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22268947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Short_honey_badger/pseuds/Short_honey_badger
Summary: When Noble Six is captured during a botched raid on a Covenant base, she is brought on board a Super Carrier and thrown into a cell to rot until her execution. There she meets a disgraced Sangheili that helps her escape if she helps him get out as well. The two grow close and soon learn that they are connected in more ways than being in the same cell block.
Relationships: Noble Six | SPARTAN-B312/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	1. Capture and Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys!! I wrote this story a very long time ago and had It on Wattpad. So when I found it again and read it again. I figured what the Hell? so I started rewriting it and I am very excited to get it out there!

The operation had been set up from the get go. Noble Six and a team of ODST had been tasked to infiltrate an area heavily populated with the Covenant to try and get any information they might have on the next raid they would hold on the planet. Turned out that the damn covies had somehow known about their plans to raid the base and had been there to cut down the ODSTs and capture the Spartan Three.

So now here she sat stewing in the guilt and anger of losing such good men to the blue plasma of Covenant weapons. The massacre had happened in seconds of stepping over enemy lines and Six could still see the blood caked on her recon armor and around the mouth guard of her Mark V helmet. Her pretty purple and orange looked darker from the dried liquid and Six desperately wished to be able to clean it off. She could care less if she was coated in the blue and purple blood of her enemies, but seeing the red on her armor made her ironclad stomach turn.

Six is now stuck on one of the biggest Covenant flagships currently in orbit around Reach. She would have been able to make it back to HQ if not for the squad of Sangheili Zealots that had been dispatched to capture her. They had taken her by surprise and knocked her out cold with a blow to the back of her helmet when her shields had gone down. 

  
Restless energy coursed through her and Six stood to begin pacing the small room that the Covenant called a cell. It barely allowed her six foot four inch body to stride five steps in either direction and she was beginning to feel claustrophobic. There was a reason that she hated doing drops with the Helljumpers. 

  
Her anger ticked up a notch when she began to go back over her situation in more detail. They had taken her weapons and disabled her shield generator. Her com unit would not work inside the cell and there was a miniscule crack that started at the right corner of her visor that continued to distract her whenever she looked that way. In a fit of anger, Six reared back and punched the wall of her cell. 

  
“You should calm yourself human. Keep that up and they will send the guard back in here.” A voice suddenly says and it stops Six dead in her tracks. She would have thought that the Covenant would have put her into a cell block by herself. _Apparently not._

  
From the accented words, Six would have to guess that it was a Sangheili stuck in here with her. Why he was here with her was a question that she wanted answers to _immediately_.

  
“Why would they have a Sangheili stuck in such high priority cells?” She questions and is shocked when the elite in question begins to chuckle at her. She honestly did not see anything that would be considered funny in her question or the situation. She turns to the right of her cell and can just see a glimpse of bright silver-white armor staring back at her. She knows that the only ones to wear such armor were the Ship Masters. 

  
“Knowing too much of the Prophet’s will has sent me to this forsaken cell.” He rumbles to her after he had stopped his inane laughter. “My execution has been postponed until the others have glassed this planet and we return to High Charity.” 

  
“High Charity?” Six questions him. She had heard of it before but had never truly believed that the Covenant’s central base was a giant ship the size of a small planet. Hearing the former Ship Master speak of it so casually sent shivers down her spine.

  
“Mhmm. Yes their so called Holy City.” he growls and Six can hear him stand and begin to walk along his cell. He is close enough now that she can see more of him. The usual blue highlights of his armor have been changed to a brilliant red and his flesh was an unusual pale brown. The most accenting feature about him had to be his emerald green eyes. Most elites she had come across had either yellow or orange colored eyes.

  
“Why are you telling me all this?” Six asks now and she sees amusement and resignation pass through his gaze. Again she wants to know what is so funny about this whole situation. He gives her a shrug and he is shocked to see such a human expression come from the massive male. And he is massive, at least eight and a half feet tall and he fills out his small cell far more than she ever could. 

  
“You have heard of the human saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend yes?” he says instead and when Six nods in acknowledgement he gives the Spartan what must be a smile to his species. To her it looked like he was about to start snarling at her with the way his mandibles raised at his jaws and his teeth bared. “Then why should I not tell what should be my friend on a ship full of enemies?”

  
“I guess that makes sense.” Six says and the two of them launch into silence. She does not know how much longer she will be stuck in this cell, but at least this way she might be able to acquire information about the on goings of the Covenant. “Would you be willing to tell me about it? If I somehow escape then the information you have would be a boon to the UNSC.”

  
“Hmm. I will help you if you get my out of this cell. The Brute that patrols here will come for you far sooner than myself. You are a demon of the Covenant and they will see you killed.” He says and moves closer to the blue shield that separates the cell from the hallway. He looks Six in the visor and somehow is able to capture her own eyes behind it. “Promise me and my information will help you destroy the Covenant and save your race.” 

  
“You seem to think that the information that you have can not be found elsewhere.” Six states and stays her ground when the Sangheili seems to draw himself up.

  
“It would take your human scientists years to find out what I alone know. Why do you think my entire ship turned on me?” He snarls suddenly and lashes out against the blue shield. “The Prophets intended to light the Holy Rings once they find them and lead the Covenant on the Great Journey. These rings do nothing but destroy all life around them. When I tried to tell my most trusted they turned on me and named me Heretic.”

  
Six is silent after his outburst and can only stare at him with wide eyes through her visor. She has never seen a Sangheili lose their cool like this one had. Him being accused a Heretic must have stripped him of all honor and poise he must have honed over the years in his service. However, she had no cause to believe or disbelieve him so she would just have to go with her gut and whatever luck was on her side.

  
“Okay.” Six says after a moment of silence. She watches the Sangheili jerk his head in a nod before retreating back to the small bench that serves as a bed in the cell. 

  
“Teda ‘Radom.” he says suddenly and if Six was not a hyper-lethal Spartan Three she would have jumped at the sudden sound in the silence.

  
“What?” she asked him and turned back to where he was sitting. If she was honest with herself she had almost dozed off in the silence of the cell block. She had not had a wink of rest in well over twenty-four hours. 

  
“My name. Teda ‘Radom.”

  
_Oh. Well then_. “I guess you can call me Six. Everyone else does.” She tells him and hears his grunt of confusion at the number for her name.

  
“That is a human numerical gliph is it not?” He asks and sits forward in his seat to better see her.

  
“Yes, but since I joined Noble Team, I go by the number. Used to be a lone wolf before the Covenant decided to start glassing Reach.” 

  
It is quiet after Six speaks. The two of them sit in silence once more but far from the comfortable one they had shared earlier. The glassing of planets was an obvious sore spot for the Spartan and she would rather the two of them not speak about it at all. She did not want to speak to Teda at all if she could help it. Not until they were out of these cells.

  
“I must apologize on behalf of myself and my brothers for the death we have caused you and your race. We have all blindly followed the Prophets and never once questioned their way on our quest for the Great Journey. When we first met you humans on the battlefield we never once questioned why the Prophets ordered your extinction. We should have.” Teda ‘Radom says suddenly and Six knows that the apology is genuine when she sees the self loathing in his gaze. She wonders if he knows that he wears his emotions so openly in his face.

  
It takes her a long time to speak with him after his apology. She knew that it had been real and had taken a lot out of him to say it. But after years and years of fighting each other, it is hard for her to accept it.

  
“I can not accept your apology right now. Nor do I think you could accept mine if I gave you one.” Six says finally. She watches Teda dip his head in acceptance of what she says and feels an odd sense of relief. She would rather not lose the only thing in this place that might keep her sane. Six can already feel the walls begin to close around her. Her training is the only thing that prevents her from having a quiet meltdown. 

  
Their silence is interrupted by the door at the end of the hall sliding open and the jailer comes lumbering through. He aims a nasty grin at both the shamed Sangheili and Spartan before coming to a stop in front of Six’s cell. 

  
SIx cringes internally at the yellow teeth aimed her way and can’t help but feel anger at the thought of all the men that have been ripped apart and bitten by the Jiralhanae. If they did not die from blood loss then they would die from whatever unknown bacteria that lives on the brutes.

  
“Time to die, Demon.” the brute snarls at Six and she glares at him from behind her helmet. If looks could kill he would have already died ten times over in the most horrid of ways. When he goes to open her cell door, time seems to slow down and Six zeros in on the way the Jiralhanae moves his fingers across the data pad that will open it. She memorizes the movements and when the light shield door goes down, Six is on him. 

  
She tackles the brute to the floor and he goes down with a loud thud. Her fist cracks across his jaw and the furry beast howls in pain as several teeth come flying out of his mouth to clink on the floor. His hands grip her sides and she feels his claws tear into her black bodysuit and push through the gel layers and into her flesh. She forces down her grunt of pain and flips until she is straddling him from behind. Six’s arm goes around his throat into a chokehold and she bares down as hard as she can on the brute’s windpipe.

  
Finally after what feels like hours have passed, Six feels the brute go still in her hold. She keeps her arm locked for a few seconds longer to make sure the beast under her is properly dead before she lets go and gets to her feet. She takes a deep breath and feels time right itself around her as the adrenaline in her system slowly seeped out of her. 

  
“Impressive.” Teda rumbles next to her ear and Six grins behind her helmet at the compliment. Six turned and with a few presses of Covenant glyphs, the shield separating the two is lowered and Teda ‘Radom steps out. The first thing the massive Sangheili does is stretched out to his full height and Six suddenly feels very small compared to him. She had always been one of the shorter Spartan Threes but the male just makes her feel like a child.

  
“We should make haste. The exicutioners must already know something is wrong when the jailer did not com them about you.” He says and Six nods in agreement. They make for the door but before they go through he places a four fingered hand on her shoulder and stops her. “Wait. I must retrieve something from my quarters first. I will not leave without it.”

  
Six can tell that he will not back down from his statement so does not even try to argue with him. Instead she nods and gestures for him to show the way. She would rather not toddle in a Covenant Super Carrier, but the Sangheili is her best way out of here. 

  
Teda nods back to her and then they are off. The first covies they come across are a pair of patrolling grunts who they take out with a quick snap of their neck. They take the fallen plasma pistols and continue on down the hall then into the next few rooms unscathed until Six noticed that the halls had become more crowded with guards.

  
The two now packed two plasma pistols, three plasma rifles, a carbine, and a swath of plasma grenades that they used to easily clear the halls of enemies. “We are close.” Teda says when they have a small break in a cleared out room. His voice was strained and Six turned to him in an easy stance to look him over. Teda looked drained. Like the fighting had wore him down and knocked something loose. It was then that she realized that this whole time they had been killing people that her companion had known for a very long time.

  
She steps closer and does something she did not think she would ever do to someone who was not one of her fellow soldiers. Six places her hand on top of his own and gives it a small squeeze and asks, “Are you okay?”

  
Teda gives a humorless chuckle and Six can’t help but to feel for him. She knew what it was like to take another humans life. Before Noble Team she had been used by the ONI to take down small sepatrests groups that could cause problems in the future. However, they had only been faces that she would never remember, people who she had never spoken to.

  
“I will be fine.” He says and looks down at where her hand is resting on top of his own. Slowly he watches her pull her hand away and Teda can’t help his rumble of laughter. Somehow this small demon had made him feel more alive then he had in a very long time. Killing his once brothers had been hard for him. Seeing their familiar faces crying out in pain had made something crack inside of him. He had tried so hard to change their views on the Prophets after he had found out what the Great Journey truly was. 

  
“If you are sure.” She says to him and makes her way back to the door and into the next hallway. Teda ‘Radom follows after her and the two fight their way to the Sangheili’s quarters. 

  
Six peaks around the corner of the long corridor to see a large door at the end guarded by two Honor Guards and curses in her mind at the sight of them. Honor Guards were the most frantic believers of the Prophets and the lies they spewed. With the weapons Teda and Six had on hand it was going to take a lot of luck on their side to not be killed by the energy swords and staffs they wielded. She pops back into cover and turns to Teda who has a murderous expression on his face. Quickly, she takes his arm and leads him back along the hallway and into a cleared room to try and see if the two could come up with a plan and to prevent him from blowing up where the guards might hear them.

  
“What should we do?” She asks him and goes over her inventory in her mind. After the two of them had talked, they had replaced their empty plasma weaponry but most of their grenades had been used to clear out packs of Unggoy and the occasional Kig-Yar. Her shields were still disabled and the cuts in her side were beginning to smart against her. They would have to play this smart if they wanted to get out of here alive.

  
“My active camouflage can be activated for short periods of time. If you are able to distract them, then I will be able to take one of them out. Once I have their blade I can dispatch the other. The battlenet is only reporting you are wreaking havoc in these halls.” Teda ‘Radom says and Six hums at the plan.

  
From what she had seen neither of the guards had any long range weapons on them; only the staffs and the deactivated blades attached to their armor. Six would have to be careful if the Sangheili closed the distance between them, but she was sure in her abilities to keep them a good distance away from her. It was a solid plan if they could find a decent enough kill zone that would allow Teda enough movement to take out the first guard. 

  
She told her companion as much and he nods his head in agreement, “There is a training room that we passed down in the hallway before this one. If you are confident that you can lead them there then it would be the ideal place to end them.” 

  
“Show me.” is all she says and Teda leads her down the hallway he spoke of and showed her the room in question. Inside, Six noted the size and deemed the thirty by thirty foot room to be acceptable for the situation. If things got hairy then it would be easy enough to get away.

  
“This was my personal training room. It locks from the outside.” 

  
“We could just lock them in then right? No need for you to kill more of your people?” Six questions and immediately has to take a step back when Teda ‘Radom snarls and lashes out at one of the training dummies littered around the room.

  
“They do not deserve to live.” He hisses and strikes the dummy once more. “Those two were my most trusted advisors, my link to the Prophets. My closest companions and they turn me in the moment I come to them with my doubts.”

  
“Then we kill them both.” Six says simply and is unsettled how quickly she is to give aid to the Sangheili. They have only known each other for a few hours and she feels more compassion and connection to him than she ever did with Noble Team.

  
Plan set and ready to go, Six watches Teda cloak himself and hide away in the shadows of the training room. On steady feet, she makes her way outside of the training room and into the hallway that will lead her back to were the shamed Sangheili's quarters rest. Her side throbs with pain and she uses it to focus on concentrating for the upcoming battle.

  
As she rounds the corner, she already has her plasma pistol changed and near overloaded. She fires the hissing bolt at the right guard and it hits him perfectly in the center mass of his body. She had hoped that the over charged bolt would take his shields down but all they did was flicker and come back up to full strength. Six curses and turns on her heel to begin leading the Sangheili down the hallway and to the training room. 

  
By the time she tears into the room, her armor has a few more scratches and more of her bodysuit has torn away thanks to the sizzling ends of the spears the Honor Guards use. The door slams shut behind the three of them and she is now facing them in a much more enclosed space. She has limited room to run from them and with how damaged her armor is she knows that if they get a lucky hit then she might not be getting back up.

  
In the corner of her eye she can see Teda slink up to the guard that is closest to her. He must have found another weapon in the training room because the next thing she knows the Sangheili is going down with a screech of pain and Teda is throwing her the unused energy sword. She catches it with deft hands and ignites it with a flick of her wrist.

  
Her sword catches the spear and the two weapons sizzle as they slide against one another. Sparks fly and she has to bite back a wince as super heated plasma lands on the exposed parts of her body. She struggles under the weight of the guard. Teeth clenched she hopes that Teda will relieve this Sangheili of his life soon or else it would be her lying on the ground.

  
Her wish is answered when, with an ear splitting roar, Teda comes down with a vicious swipe of his pilfered blade and slices the left arm off the Honor Guard about to disembowel Six. The honor guard howls in anger and pain and turns to Teda with mandibles spread in a dangerous snarl. “Heretic! You will die by the Prophet's devine hand and will never walk the Great Journey!" he says and even though he is missing most of his left arm he attacks Teda with a single mindedness that remind Six of when a Jiralhanae goes on a rampage.

  
Teda is quick to defend himself of the onslaught that the other of his kind brings him. The Honor Guard is spitting insults and slurs as he slashes at Teda, but the shamed Ship Master blocks each wild swing with a precise swipe of his stolen energy blade. Six watches the entire fight happen and to her it almost seems as though Teda is dancing with his opponent with how quick he moves and how easy he strikes back. 

  
Even though it feels like hours have passed since the battle began, Teda is soon victorious when he ducks under the sloppy move the other Sangheili makes and takes the head clean off his body with one well placed swipe. 

  
The Honor Guards heavy head falls to the ground with a loud thud and Teda us left standing there breathing harshly through his mouth. Six carefully walks up to her companion and places her hand against his arm. At the touch, Teda quickly relaxes and slumps down from his fighting stance. He glances over at Six and his gaze filled with concern as he looked her over. He notes her torn suit and newly scared armor. She is favoring her right leg and Teda knows that she must be exhausted and in massive amounts of pain.

  
“Let us go. I have supplies in my quarters that will help us get out of here.” He says and when Six moves to go past him, Teda grasps her shoulder gently, “Let me help you.” when Six jerks her head in acceptance, Teda steps closer to her until they are pressed flush against each other and carefully loops her arm around his back so that he is able to shoulder some of her weight.

  
“Honor Guard must have got me while I was running back to the room.” Six grunts out as they move out of said training room and back out into the hall. They hobble to ‘Radom’s quarters and he types in the code to open the door. Once inside he leads her to the large bed that sits in the middle of his room and places her down on it.

  
“I have medical supplies that we can use on your side and leg if you wish Six.” He rumbles and goes and fetches the kit that he keeps in the washroom. When he gets back, Six has already detached the armor plates around her left leg and her chest. She looks smaller without the armor and Teda is overwhelmed with a fierce serge of protection toward the Spartan. _Why does she make me feel this way?_

  
‘Radom pulls out a glowing blue gel and makes sure Six is looking at him before he begins to explain what it does, “This will bring you pain, but after the initial hurt is over it acts as a numbing agent. It will close the wounds long enough for you to get medical attention from your people.” 

  
“Thank you for this.” Six whispers and Teda feels his mandibles twitch into a smile, “You didn’t have to do all this for me.” 

  
“Nonsense. You freed me from that cell. This is the least I could do for you.” 

  
Six only sighs and rolls her eyes skyward. She can not believe that she is actually letting what could have once been an enemy doctor her up. Teda grunts at her and Six locks eyes with him through her helmet, “You may want to prepare. This pain is immense.”

  
“Just do it. I can handle a little pain.”

  
Teda snorts at her before turning to the wound on her side and holding her down with his weight. He had seen some of the hardiest warriors jerk away from the small vial he held in his hand. “Radom had his doubts that his human could withstand the fiery pain that came with healing oneself. One he had her properly held down so that she could not wiggle away from his work, Teda popped the top off of the vial and poured a generous amount onto her side and watched as the gel hardened into a thin layer as it began working. 

  
The second it came in contact with her skin, Six had to repress a shout and the instinct to lash out at whatever was causing her pain. The gel was on par with how undergoing the augmentations made her feel only for a much shorter amount of time. Soon though the icy fire began to fade and a pleasant numbness swept over her entire body. After she relaxed, Six felt much more prepared for the gel when Teda poured it on her left leg.

  
The two rested while Six regained enough strength that she could safely move around without cracking the hardened gel and still be able to fight. It came as a relief when Teda informed her that his quarters were closer to the hanger than the cells had been. Having to backtrack all the way back to the cells and then to the hanger would have taken far too long.

  
While she rested, Teda had raided his storage lockers and brought out a large satchel that he dug out from a locked truck at the end of his bed. He packs the bag with what medical supplies he can carry and the food rations he has stored in the small freezer that is next to his desk. Finally, he pulls out two hilts from deep within the same truck the satchel came from. Teda caresses the handles with a look of longing in his deep green eyes and Six wonders again if he notices that he wears his emotions so plainly for others to see.

  
When he activates the blades with a flick of his wrist, Six can not help but be mesmerized by the beautiful weapons. They are a pair of plasma blades that pulse a magnificent purple color. Instead of the usual dual bladed sword that is common amongst higher ranked Sangheili, these only have a single blade. Wide at the end where it connects with the hilt meant for their races four fingered hands and sloping down to an almost delicate point. From where she sits, Six can see vague glyphs etched into the hilts and she wonders what they mean.

“These blades have been passed down for generations to the first born of the ‘Radomee clan on Sanghelios. Though now that I have been shamed a heretic, I am unable to produce an heir to our lineage nor able to hand down the blades.” He explains to her and extinguishes the blades then comes to sit beside his Spartan. He has never let another being handle these relics, but he feels possessed to pass one of the hilts over to her and let Six examine them to her heart's content.

  
“What do these symbols mean?” She asks and traces the ancient Sangheili glyphs with the tip of her gloved finger. The hilts are artfully designed for practicality and for comfort, large enough to fit within Teda’s huge hand, but small enough that if she spreads her fingers the right way she can easily wield it.

  
“ _Family_ and _Honor_.” He rumbles and carefully takes back the hilt and angles it so that the two of them can see it, “These glyphs mean honor. It represents what we bring to our kin.” he then shows her the other hilt where the word family is spelt out in the ancient language. “The two things that represent my clan and I have betrayed it. Never to be seen as kin again.” His voice is harsh and filled with self loathing.

  
“Some things have to be sacrificed for the greater good. I don’t remember any of my family. We were taken at an early age.” Six says quietly and reaches out to wrap her hand around his own that hold the family hilt. “We forge our own paths.”

  
“Wise words for a human.” ‘Radom murmurs and feels a jump in his chest when his words force a strained laugh out of Six.They fall silent and then Six sighs and gets up from where she sits on the bed. She stretches carefully and finally begins to put on the armor that she had taken off so her wounds could be tended to. They have rested in Teda’s quarters for almost half an hour and it was time for them to get out of here. They had been lucky that they had been able to take out the patrols and the guards on the way to his rooms without them alerting the entire ship.

  
“We need to get out of here. I’m good to start moving. Are you?” Six says and picks up the weapons she had set on the floor when they got inside her quarters. She was ready to get out of the purple halls of the Covenant Super Carrier and get her feet back on hard packed dirt. Spartans belonged on the ground where they could bring the fight to whoever opposes the UNSC.

  
“Yes. I am ready.” 

  
The two of them quickly gather their things and are out the door double time. Now that Six is much less injured and Teda ‘Radom has his weapons, clearing the halls on the way to the hanger is much quicker. For every enemy that Six takes down, Teda has taken down three more. Plasma only touches her if her companion is too far from her. He is a whirlwind of destruction and beauty. 

  
By the time they make it to the hanger, the population of the ship has been alerted to their presence and the doors leading to their objective are heavily guarded. Six curses aloud when she rounds the corner and has to drive straight back to avoid the thick ball of plasma a grunt shoots her way from his fuel rod cannon. He would have to be the first one to be taken out. 

  
“Give me your grenades.” Six demands and when Teda hands her the three that he is carrying, she dives back into the hall and lobs one in the direction she seen the Unggoy. Satisfaction courses through her gut when she hears their screams when the plasma grenade goes off and takes out three of their squad. The glee is squashed however, when a green plasma blob is bounced down the corridor and exploded several feet away from her.

  
She would have to have another run of tossing grenades down the hall. Her only problem with that plan was that now that they knew she had them, it would be easier for the covies to dodge them. Six would just have to hope for the best and fall back on her good luck that she had been having so far. Taking a deep breath, Six steadies herself then flings her body at the mouth of the hallway and flings her remaining two grenades at the Covenant surrounding the door. Before she tumbles to the other side where Teda is waiting, she watches as one of the glowing blue orbs stick to the Ungoggy that stands beside the one that totes the fuel rod. The explosion that happens is so large that it throws the Sangheili Majors back and kills off most of the Unggoy and Kin-Yar.

  
Teda is there to catch her so she does not bounce off the floor and possibly hurt herself more than she already was. He pulls her up by her waist and presses himself against her. She is shocked and a little startled when he jerks her around to face him, “Why would you put your life in danger so recklessly?” he snarls at her and Six can not help but feel slightly offended. She has done far more dangerous stunts under worse conditions they are facing now.

  
“Who cares if I do? They are dead so now we can get through.” She spits back at him and wreastles herself out of his ironclad grip. Once she is back on her feet, she lifts the carbine from her back and slinks around the corner to continue to pick off the remaining Covenant. 

  
Inside the hanger, the two of them scan for a suitable craft that would get them away from the Super Carrier as quick as possible. Banshees were out of the question. So were the shielded Seraph fighters. Their best option would be to somehow commandeer one of the few Phantoms hovering above the floor. Teda and Six pull back to discuss a plan to get into the Phantom and to not get blown to smithereens before they can get out of the Super Carrier’s weapon range.

  
“I can make my way on board using my active camouflage. Once inside I can active the turrets and you can make for the ship while our enemies are taken out.” Teda suggests and Six quickly agrees. It is a decent plan and if she is quick then she can get to the Phantom in less than a minute. Before he cloaks himself, ‘Radom rounds on Six and grasps her hand is own, “do be careful.” And with those parting words he is off. 

  
It does not take him long to reach the ship and slip into the gravity beam that will take him into the belly of the drop ship. He needs to quickly take out the remaining crew before activating the weapons system so that his human could make the sprint to the ship. Teda activates his blades and in the blink of an eye the occupants of the ship are eliminated and he is at the controls turning the turrets on to fire on the beings that he once considered brothers. In the view screens, he sees Six sprints for the Phantom. The Sangheili does not realize that he has held his breath for that entire time until Six is safely in the ship and standing right beside him.

  
“Let’s Go!” she yells and slides into the copilot seat like she had flown a Phantom her entire life. Her shout brings him into action and he snarls at himself for getting so distracted. 

  
With a few flicks of switches and a random location in mind, the two of them are finally out of the Super Carrier. Both slump with relief when the Carrier ignores them and they are able to quickly fly into the atmosphere of the planet Reach. Teda checks the reading on the hull and energy cell that powers the ship and is glad to find all things green and good to go. 

  
“We made it.” he rumbles quietly and turns to find that Six has slumped down in her seat and has taken her helmet off without him noticing. She has bright red hair that just touches the bottom of her ears and a pale face with a smattering of freckles across her nose. She turns her head and when Six opens her eyes, Teda’s breath is sucked out of his chest. Her eyes are the exact same shade of emerald green as his own. Down to the last small flecks of gold and brown scattered around his iris.   



	2. Myth and Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short Chapter. I struggled with this one a little bit. Hope you enjoy!

During times of great sacrifice and in the event of a cataclysmic anomaly, the universe itself would align the stars and a soul bond would form between two beings that could change the rising tide of the event. One of the only recorded events of a soul bond could be found in the ancient archives of the Forerunners. During the war with Ancient Humanity and into the devastation that was the flood, two souls were brought together to bring balance to the universe and end conflict. These two souls were the Ur-Didact and the Librarian. Two of the highest ranked and most influential beings in the Forerunner race. It was said that when the two of them came together, they could achieve anything that they put their minds to. It was these two who recorded everything about their bond and hid it away until the Covenant unearthed it on a small Shield World hidden from the rest of the galaxy.

  
The Prophets spewed forth lies about the bond. The San’Shyuum knew that the bond was a sacred thing, but believed that it was the only way to find and light the Holy Rings. Many grew frantic on finding a soul bond in the Covenant. The knowledge spread far and wide and Teda ‘Radom knew the stories just as well as he knew the history of his own clan. He could remember being honored to read some of the archives in the highly guarded library on High Charity.

  
_...It would start with the eyes. I knew that the two of us were destined to be with one another when we locked eyes. Being the fairer sex of our race, I was expected to be blessed with the violet eyes that my mother and her mother had. It came as a shock when I opened my eyes for the first time and they were a brilliant orange, most commonly found in the male sex of our race. As our bond progressed, it became apparent that we not only shared the same eyes, but we could see each other’s emotions as clear as the sun shines upon our worlds. We could be light years apart and still I could feel his burning anger and sense of justice. When my other half left to battle against the accursed flood, I felt him fall. Just as he felt me perish on the small world of Humanity after I locked my love away_. -Excerpt from Imprint of Librarian.

  
As Teda looked at Six and the two of them finally locked eyes without the visor in the way, he felt a piece of himself settle in his chest and he felt whole. He knows now why he felt the way he did every time she pulled a dangerous stunt or when he had patched her up from the brawl with the Honor Guards. ‘Radom hoped to whatever gods would still listen to his heretic heart that Six would know what this was that has happened between them. He knows that the bond is truly there when he can sense her surprise and cautiousness over the new link between them.

  
“Teda, what just happened?” Six asks and he watches as she reaches up and rubs at wear he knows the human heart rests. He can feel her confusion and he slides off his chair so that he can kneel down at her feet. Her confusion rises when he reaches out and places a huge hand on top of the one that is unconsciously clenched around the arm rest of the dropships pilot seat.

  
“I believe we have forged what the Forerunner’s named a soul bond.” He rumbles and holds back a flinch when he watches her gaze so much like his own sharpen.

  
“A what?” she hisses and moves so that she locked eyes with him. They can not hide anything from one another and if Teda is correct, and he knows that he is, she will see the truth in his gaze and feel it in his mind. She searches his gaze and slowly, oh so slowly, her eyes soften and so does her grip on the chair arm. “Please, explain to me what that is.”

  
Teda situates himself into a more comfortable position and is disheartened to find that Six has pulled her hand away from his own. He clears his throat before starting at the beginning of what he knows about soul bonds. “From what the Covenant has gathered over the years, a bond is formed in times of great peril. I have only seen one record of one being forged and it was when the Forerunners ruled the galaxy. More than 100,000 Earth years ago.” From then Teda accounts what he knows of the soul bond and is glad that Six seems to understand that he had nothing to do with this.

  
“So that is why I could read you so well?” She says after everything and Teda cracks a smile.

  
“Yes. I have been told that I keep my emotions under wraps rather well so it came as a surprise when you realised and offered me comfort.” He says and his chest feels tight when Six grants him a smile.

  
Six is glad that she finally knows why she feels this connection with a Sangheili she has only known for going on eight hours now. It is such a far fetched idea but when she looks in his eyes that are the same shade as her own, she knows that he speaks the truth about this. The UNSC has no records of soul bonds, and though she dislikes the idea that the Covenant got to this information first; she can do nothing else but accept it. 

  
“I suppose you should know my real name then.” She says and holds back a laugh when she can feel the amusement come from Teda. The emotion sits deep within her chest and she rubs the spot once more. This is one of the oddest things that has ever happened to her. 

  
“Yes. I would like to know you. All of you if you allow it.” Teda says and Six doesn’t know how she feels about the heat behind his words. She decides not to focus on them and instead sticks her hand out and gave him a small smile.

  
“My name is Jane Odom.” Her grin turns soft when Teda just stares at her still lifted hand. Carefully, she reaches forward and grasp the hand that is opposite hers and places their palms and fingers together in the most awkward handshake of her life.

  
“It is called a handshake. We humans use them when we are introducing ourselves.” She explains to him. Teda takes it in stride after she urges him to shake their clasps hands back and forth until she finally pulls away.

  
‘Radom feels giddy with emotions about their last names. They are so similar that with a few changes they would be the same. He shuffles back and moves until he is standing before bending down and placing his left fist over heart. “My designation is Teda ‘Radom. It is an honor and a blessing to meet you Jane Odom.”

  
Jane fights back a shiver at the way her name sounds coming from him. _The hell was that?_ She does not know how to handle the feelings that Teda is making her feel now that she knows that the two of them are bonded. Their species were at war, even their friendship could become a liability.

  
“I need to get back to base. Holland needs to know that I’m not dead.” Jane says and winces when she feels the disappointment through their bond. The past hour had been a good break from fighting, but she needed to get back and rely what she had found out while on the Covenant ship. It wasn’t much with how little time she had between running and gunning, but the information she had picked up from word of mouth would be enough to not make this whole ordeal redundant. She would be keeping Teda out of her debrief. 

  
“Yes. Though I do not wish you to go, I know you must. Let me give you something.” Teda says and moves to where he had laid his satchel down. He digs into it before pulling out a small device and handing it to Jane, “This will allow us to speak to each other over short distances. I will do my best to warn you of any incoming Covenant attacks and feed you the information I promised before you got me out of that cell.”

  
Jane flips the small device over in her hand before placing it in one of the pockets scattered across her armor. She would figure out how it worked later. Right now she needed to find out where Noble Team was and see if they could not drop her off a few miles away from wherever they were stationed. From what she knew of, Noble Team was stationed at the newly reclaimed Sword Base. Getting there might end up being a problem in such a recognizable vehicle such as the Phantom. “Can you get us closer to the surface?”

  
The Sangheili jerks his head in a nod and slides into the pilots seat and begins to direct the Phantom in the direction of the surface. Six holds on when they hit some turbulence coming into the atmosphere and scans the ground for any notable landmarks. It takes the two of them up to an hour for Jane to find a large camp outside of a triangle building on the edge of a lake. “There!” Jane says and Teda hovers the Phantom out of sight of the base and the building it rests near. The ONI building has seen better days and Six hopes that she will be able to contact her team from there.

  
She gets up from the co-pilot's seat and begins to gather what little she was able to bring on board. Jane is stopped from sliding on her helmet by a large four fingered hand and looks to see her other half standing beside her with an almost wilted look on his face. She feels his discontent with her leaving and shoves it aside harshly. She had a job to do and even he would not get in her way. “What are you doing?”

  
“Tell me you will not risk yourself.” He says and reaches out to caress the side of her face with his right hand. His emerald eyes are filled with emotion and Teda curses himself for getting so attached to his human so quickly when it is obvious that she does not quite feel the same way. The Sangheili has been told time and time again that he was quick to become passionate, almost to the point it could be called an obsession. The glowing ember in his chest that only grew more wild in her presence could attest to that.

  
“I can’t promise you anything about not risking myself. It comes with being a Spartan.” Jane says and reaches up to hold the hand on her face for a few, too short seconds then pulls his hand away. The Spartan steps away from him and slips on her helmet. She is glad that ‘Radom can no longer read her through her eyes any longer. She did not want him seeing how leaving him affected her, even though she knows that it must happen. “But I will promise I won’t mention you in anything that has happened.” 

  
“I would understand if you had to.” He says and steps away from his other half. It feels as though the distance physically pains him and he knows that he will not be straying far from her position. “Will you allow me to know when you will be expected to go back into the field?

”   
“I’ll tell you everything when I know myself.” 

  
Teda hums at that and is thankful that he is at least being told when she will be fighting again. He follows after his other half to the gravity lift and watches as she steps into the middle where it will beam her down once it is switched on. “You be careful too Teda. I’ll alert you if there will be any patrols coming your way once I know your position.” She grasps Teda’s arm and gives it a reassuring squeeze. 

  
The Sangheili gives her a nod and squeezes her hand with his own when she pulls away. He steps away from her then turns to activate the gravity lift that will take her to the ground. When her feet touch the burnt earth of Reach, Teda watches her until he can no longer see her.   



	3. Preparing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys. I tried to keep this chapter as lore friendly as I could but for the sake of the story I changed up the timeline just a little bit. Ill explain how at the end of the chapter. Its not enough for it to get all out of wack though. Let me know how ya like it. Your Kudos and comments fuel me. Thanks for reading!

“It’s unfortunate that you were not able to get more information than what you got Six, but I’m glad to have you back at the base. Having Noble Team at full strength is a top priority.” Colonel Holland says over the vid screen and Six stands quietly in the presence of her superior and Nobles one and two. Commander Carter S-A259 and his second in command Kat S-B320 stood on either side of her and listened as Jane gave her report to Holland. She had been lucky to find all of Noble packed away in the hasilly set up barracks that would hold them and several other squads of ODST.

  
“For now, take a few hours and get some rest. In 24 hours I am sending you and Noble Three out to scout Szurdok Ridge. It’s gone dark and I want to know what has happened. Holland out.” their superior cuts the feed after the three Spartans snap off quick salutes and Kat is the first one to round on Six.

  
“So tell us what really happened.” she says and Six feels a wave of anxiety flow through her. Ever since she has known the smaller Spartan, Jane has felt as if Kat already knew far too much about her. It made her uncomfortable for others to know what all she had done in her lifetime. Before Noble, she had worked for ONI. Doing their dirty work could put a toll on your mental health if you did not know how to work through it. Jane had done enough missions to know how to; whether it would come back to bite her though? Six had no idea.

  
“That is what really happened.” Jane says and tries to keep the exhausted irritation out of her voice. The trek from Teda to Sword Base had taken well over two hours and even with her augmentations, Six was tired and in dire need of some food and at least six hours of sleep. 

  
“Then tell us how you are feeling. You were a prisoner in a Covenant Super Carrier for over sixteen hours Six.” Carter says and Six watches as his hand comes up and tries to land on her shoulder. She moves at the last second and can’t help but feel bad for dodging her commander like that. She can’t understand why she doesn't want him to touch her, but the feeling is almost overwhelming.

  
Jane must be projecting her emotions because suddenly she can feel Teda. His own, much calmer, emotions envelop her and Six has to fight to not sag in relief. She can feel his curiosity and an underlying anger at not being there with her to protect her from what is causing her distress.

  
“Six?” Carter asks and she focuses back on her Commander. He is giving her a concerned look and she tries to not let it affect her. She had never been close to the others in Noble Team, but even before she had been captured and met Teda, Six had still tried to have some companionship within the team. She must look crazy to the others right now if she isn’t even letting their Commander touch her.

  
“I’m fine, sir. Just would like to get some food and sleep for a while.” Jane says and before they can say anything, she beats a hasty retreat to the mess hall. Inside she grabs a tray from the line and goes down until her tray is heaping with the gruel that they call food. When she sits and begins to eat, Jane finds the food tasteless, but fills her up enough that she is content and could easily fall asleep. Jane is startled out of her meal when another body plops down across from her. When she looks up, it is to Jorge the only Spartan-two of Noble team.

  
“Heard you were back. Wanted to see how you were.” he says and something about his accented voice makes Jane relax a little in her seat. It was deep and a similar pitch to Teda’s own voice. Jorge would probably hate her if he knew that she was comparing him to her other half who just so happened to me a Sangheili. The Spartan two hated the Covenant with a passion and fire that could rival the sun.

  
“Could be better if I am honest with you.” Jane says and it feels nice to actually be honest with someone. She could trust Jorge. For all the training the man had gone through in his youth, he had still retained enough of his empathy to make him more man than machine. Six knew that some of the other Spartans had not been so fortunate. “A lot happened on that ship and I could really use some sleep to try and get through it.”

  
Jorge huffs a laugh at her and she cracks a smile back at him. Out of all the Spartans on Noble, she had found that she liked the Two the most. She supposed spending a few long days fighting alongside each other would do that. Jane continues to eat what little is left on her trey and Jorge falls silence across from her. She can tell that he wants to ask what happened and appreciates that he doesn’t. Once she is done, she moves to throw her trey away but stops when Jorge clears his throat and says her call sign. “I’m not going to ask what happened. But if you want to talk then you have my ear.”

  
Jane sends him a soft smile and smooths her red hair away from her face, “Thank you Jorge. I appreciate it.” she turns fully form him then and places her tray on the rack with the others to be washed later. Out of the cafeteria and down the hall, Six arrives at her designated bunk and carefully sits down on the reinforced bed. The room in mostly empty and she is glad that she is alone for the most part, it would give her plenty of time to think on what had happened to her in such a short time. 

  
Being captured and watching the men under her die had been a harsh blow. She had not been inside the Super Carrier very long, but the feeling of being in that tiny cell had been enough for her. Before volunteering for the Spartan Three program, Six had come from an abusive orphanage on Alluvion in the Bhaakto System. Jane had been one of the selected Beta Company candidates of the Spartan Three program and she took the chance to join as soon as she was able to get away from that place. Anywhere was preferable to the orphanage and the owners who treated her less than trash. 

  
When she had learned that Alluvion had been glassed in 2542, Jane had a mixed feeling of horror at all the deaths on the planet and the feeling of relief that she would never have to be forced into another closet for days on end anymore. The first time she had dropped with the ODST had taken a toll on her, but by then she knew how to compartmentalize her panic and shove it aside in favor of focusing on the mission. Her focus and determination had been one of the many attributes of her personality that got her had picked by Kurt Ambrose, the Lieutenant Commander in charge of some of the Spartan Three program.

  
It was also the reason she was not dead in the ground with the rest of Beta Company after Operation: TORPEDO. Jane had trained with the other 300 canidates and even became very close with some of them before the suicide mission they had been sent on. Just the thought of her once, almost, family sent a pang of grief through her chest.

  
She must have been broadcasting her emotions again, because she could feel Teda’s emotions sweep over her once again. The warm feeling of calm and concern settled over her and this time she did not push them away. Instead she welcomed them and concentrated on her own side of the bond to send back a feeling of acceptance. She had been alone for much of her short life and she is suddenly grateful that Teda is apart of her now.

Jane is interrupted when two more people come into the barracks and sit on bunks opposite of her own. When she looks up it is to see the other two Spartans Three’s that are a part of Noble; Jun S-A266 and Emile S-A234 numbers three and four respectively. Jun has his helmet tucked into his lap and Emile is staring at her through the skull on his helmet. Six quietly wonders if it is hard to see out of his modified EVA helmet.

“You two here to ask about my capture too?” Jane says and can not keep the irritation out of her voice this time. She is so _sick_ of hearing people ask about that.

“No. Wanted to see if you needed anything before our mission tomorrow.” Jun says and picks up the SRS 99 sniper rifle on the other side of his bunk to check the clip that is slotted inside. He slides it back in with a harsh click and looks back up to Jane, “Will you be ready?”

“Once I can get some sleep I’ll be ready for anything.” She snips at them with narrowed eyes.

Emile snorts a laugh before he begins to chuck off some of his more bulky armor and then his helmet. Jane follows his lead and soon lays down on the thin mattress that is her bed. Soon the only sound that can be heard is Jun cleaning his rifle and the snores of the other occupants in the room.

Jane casts around for her bond, and once she finds the tiny line that connects her to her Sangheili other half, she sends a wave of content sleepiness toward him. She has to stifle a giggle when he sends back amusement and she grins in the dark of the room. It isn’t long before sleep takes her and she dozes off to a warm feeling in her chest. 

* * *

  
Out of sight of the humans base, Teda doesn’t bother to fight back the grin that overcomes his face. His human seems to have finally accepted the bond more openly and he mourns that he is not there with her. Earlier that day when he had felt her anger and her fear, he had almost been overwhelmed with murderous rage. He hated that he could not be there for her. She was his to protect and his to keep. To hell with any other being that might say otherwise.

  
‘Radom quickly cools his rising anger to keep Jane from waking. He knows that she is asleep and does not want to wake her with such negative emotions. Never in his life had he been assaulted with such feelings. On Sanghelios, he had been known to be a very level headed Ship Master who had never let his emotions get the best of him other than his passion for the Covenant and his will to see the Great Journey through to the end.

After finding and reading the encrypted transmission that had been accidentally sent to his communication unit, Teda 'Radom- Ship Master of the Super Carrier Honor and Supremacy, was no more. It had been a shock to find out what the Great Journey truly was. It had turned out that the transmission he had received was from the Heretic Leader himself Sesa ‘Refumee. His holodrone message had been lost in communication, and had somehow ended up on Teda’s own device. The Sangheili remembered being furious and contacting the other right away after clearing up the signal that the message came from.

_“You dare send this slander around! Defiling the Holy Ring and spreading lies about our Great Journey!” Teda roared over the vid screen and the larger Sangheili only looked on calmly. He rants and raves for the next view minutes and only stops when Sesa puts up a hand and Teda is curious enough not to contact the Supreme Commander of The Fleet of Particular Justice just yet. What happens next is enough to shock the Ship Master to his core._

_“The Prophets have told us nothing but lies about the Forerunners. They were no gods, but a normal race with a similar system as ours. They were scientists and researchers who collected data through the years to preserve their history from the Flood. Halo is nothing but a weapon that will get us all destroyed if we allow the Prophets to continue their Great Journey.” Sesa ‘Refumee pauses to let it all sink into his fellow Sangheili’ s mind before he continues._

  
_“I have proof. The Oracle of the ring I am stationed at has left valuable information about why these rings have been created. If you do not believe me then allow me to send you a copy of what I have.”_

  
_“I should not trust you, but I will allow you to send me the data on what you have found in your time there Heretic.” Teda answers and soon after receives a data pack filled with videos of the Oracle speaking. One such video is of Sesa asking the floating machine questions about the Holy Ring. Teda takes his time in scanning the data and his heart plummets the more he sees. So it was true._

  
_The next few days were spent trading information. Teda had collected quite the mass and had planned to take his findings to his most trusted members aboard his ship. He had brushed away his hesitations and Seda’s warnings. In his haste to make his case known, he did not foresee that his advisors would be more loyal to the Prophets and their lies than to him. It was then that he had been accused a Heretic and thrown into a cell to await his execution on High Charity._

  
He might lack the honor his name once came with, but Teda had achieved what the Prophets had always wanted other than the Holy Rings. Because of his imprisonment he had found his soulmate. His other half may have been a human, but he could tell that she was one of the fiercest creatures in the Universe. He would do everything in his power to protect her for they belonged together. The two of them could end this war, possibly prevent the Prophets from completing their Great Journey and he could finally regain his honor.

  
For now, however; it was time for sleep. He had a feeling deep in his gut that tomorrow Jane would be back out fighting and he needed to be in top form to make sure she did not risk herself too often. 

* * *

  
Jane woke the next morning to someone tapping on the bridge of her nose. She knew that it was Emile, since he had done this before, but it felt as though the light taps were going through her entire body. It was uncomfortable as hell and she needed him to stop.

  
Her eyes flew open and her hand shot up to catch his own right before his finger touched her nose one last time. Jane’s emerald gaze sharpened and Emile cackled after he yanked his hand away from her iron grip. “As quick as ever Six.” he shot at her and she couldn’t help but to turn her thin lips up into a small smile.

  
“Thanks.” she mutters before sitting up in bed and stretching out the crick that had settled in her back. Sleeping in armor was awful, but with the Covenant on Reach they all needed to be prepared. She quickly slots her individual pieces back into place then tucks her helmet under her arm.

  
“Come on Six. We need to eat then you are meeting Jun by the armory to get your gear. I hear ONI sent down some enhancements for our armor that need to be tested.” Emile says and jogs in front of her to the mess hall.

  
After grabbing their food, Jorge joins them to eat and sends Six a curious once over. He had been worried for the other Spartan last night and is glad that she is looking better this morning than she had last night. “Did you get your six hours in?” he asks with a huff of laughter. 

  
The bad joke causes Six to snort in amusement and Emile to almost double over in his food. The joke really isn’t that funny, but Jorge was usually one of the more stoic members of Noble. It was good to see him do this given the situation. 

  
“She got around eleven hours of sleep I think. Needed her beauty rest.” Emile says and Six grins into her grey mush that was filled with the necessary proteins and vitamins that kept the UNSC running. It isn’t too much longer that Six is saying goodbye to her teammates and heading out to the armory where Jun is already waiting for her.

  
“Took you long enough Six.” Jun says when she slides up to him. She rolls her eyes behind her visor at his tone. She was on time. She checked before she left the mess hall.

  
“Emile said that we are going to be given some armor enhancements. What does that mean?” Jane asks and looks to one of the doctors in white lab coats who are fluttering around the area. She is approached by a stressed looking woman with blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She has glasses perched at the end of her nose and Jane gives the woman her attention when she begins to speak.

  
“I’m Dr. Shelly Hargrove. Since the mission you and Noble Three are going on is in the so called “Dark Zone.” and could prove to be a suicide mission given the amount of Covenant stationed there; ONI decided to give us some prototype gear for you to use in the field. We think they have finally gotten the hang of the portable stealth field generators that some of the Covenant use.” 

  
“Those would be very useful.” Six says and steps over to the desk that have several devices around the size of her hand lined up next to each other. Hovering above each device are small holographic symbols that represent what the device does. _Color coded too. Neat._

  
Jane goes the one a little down the table that shows a blue man, darker blue that starts at the top and fades down into a light sky blue. She picks up the device and is surprised at how light it is. Given the size of it, she would have expected it to weigh a little over five pounds but it couldn’t be more than two. “That is active camouflage. The others that we have are the bubble shield and the armor lock ability. Once used they have a two minute recharge time before they can be used again.” Dr. Hargrove is saying and Jun picks up the armor lock enhancement. Both would be good for the mission.

  
“We would like for you to put them to the test before going out in the field. With how far away Szurdok Ridge is however, we only have a few hours to run the necessary tests before you two are scheduled to fly out.”

  
“Suit us up then ma’am.” Jane tells her and grins behind her helmet. The flamboyant purple and orange colors of her armor might scream the opposite, but Jane had been trained for stealth missions after she had been singled out and taken to be the ONI’s lapdog. She had more than one assassination in her black book.

  
Hours later, Six sneaks out of the base and into a more private area at the edge of the camp. She had told Teda that she would tell him when she would be going back out to fight. She fishes the little communications device out of her armor and flips it to and fro. The device itself is a deep maroon color with little black buttons along one side where it was smooth to the touch on the other. Jane presses the largest black button and it is a few nervous moments before Teda’s voice filters through the speaker.

  
“Jane.” the Sangheili greets and she can hear the smile in his deep voice. Her chest feels warm from his happiness at hearing from you. She pushes it down to not get too distracted.  
“Teda. I wanted to tell you that I will be leaving within the hour to go scout out a zone with one of my team.” Jane says and can now feel discontent alongside the joy he feels. “It is an hour and some minutes flight north of here to the drop off point. After that Jun and myself are going to be radio silent until we find what we need.”

  
“I know the place you speak of. Have caution. Many of my brothers are stationed there with shade turrets and look outs have been placed where they were needed.” Teda informs her then continues to go on while she takes in the information he has given her, “There will be a pylon deep into the settlement near what you humans call a hydro plant. That is what is generating the frequency that is halting your satellites from scanning the area.” 

  
“Thank you for telling me.” Jane says and breathes a sigh of relief. No one had known about the turrets. One misstep and either her or Jun could have ended up as a burt smear on the earth. She can feel Teda’s protectiveness curl up tight in her chest and it makes her feel just the slightest bit better. Jane has never been as nervous to go on an assignment before, she can only guess she is feeling this way now because she actually has something to take care of other than herself. It's an odd feeling to say the least.

  
“Will you be careful Jane?” Teda rumbles and she feels her chest tighten at the sound of his voice. 

  
“I can’t make a promise you know I can’t keep Teda.” Jane whispers and clutches the little device in her hand like a life line. Teda grumbles in displeasure at her response then sighs heavily over the device.

  
“Then do not promise me.” He says and Jane murmurers her agreement that she will try and be more careful.

  
“I have to go. Jun and I still need to get some things together just in case the operation lasts longer than we think.” Jane tells him and waits for her other half to tell her goodbye before she turns the device off and pockets it. It was time she got back over to Jun.

  
The other Three already had their pack loaded into the Falcon and Jane squashed the feeling of guilt for not helping him and instead sneaking off like a child to go and speak with Teda. He interrupts her dark thoughts with a cleared thrown and Six snaps her gaze to him.

  
“Are you sure you are ready for this Six? You seem out of it.” he says and Jane feels a swell of irritation at herself for not paying more attention. She should be better than this damn it!

  
“Yes, I'm fine. More than ready to go take a look at what the Covenant are doing.”

  
“Then let’s get comfortable for a long flight Six.” Jun says and hops into the Falcon to wait for their departure. Jane follows him and hopes that nothing would go wrong tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay to explain this chapter, Thel Vadamee is already at Halo-installation 4. during that time Sesa 'Refumee, The heretic leader from halo 2 is already examining the forerunner mining facility. He is left there after Thel scrambles to get his fleet away from the Flood. During his time at the facility he meets Guilty Spark and he finds out the true purpose of Halo. So Thel is not a part of the Reach Glassing but is instead at the ring for now. I am having Sesa begin his converting of the Covenant happen at the same time Reach is getting attacked. That is how one of his transmissions get lost and end up with Teda. Goodness I hope that makes sense.


End file.
